Threlfall, William1799-1825; e.m. 1820

WM missionary in South Africa, born at Hollowforth in the Fylde on 6 June 1799. As a teenager, he believed himself called to work in Madagascar. He sailed for South Africa in 1822 and after a year with William Shaw among the British settlers began work among Africans at Delagoa Bay. This isolated mission was aborted when malaria and dysentery caused his evacuation to Cape Town. After recuperating he was stationed at Liliefontein and in 1825 set out north with two African colleagues to carry the Gospel into Namanqualand. They were murdered in August by robbers near Warmbad (Namibia). Verses in their memory were written by James Montgomery.

Sources

Samuel Broadbent, The Missionary Martyr of Namaqualand: memorials of the Rev. William Threlfall (1857)